For App Makers, China Is Untapped and Untamed

The biggest app makers are increasingly setting their sights on China, as the internationalization of the apps business creates no only greater opportunities for developers but also heightened risks, Scott Austin reports. Photo: Getty Images.

By

Jessica E. Lessin

Updated March 7, 2013 1:18 p.m. ET

China is emerging as the next battleground for global app makers—but cracking the world's largest smartphone market is proving to be vexing.

App makers must navigate dozens of app stores with looser rules than in the U.S., fend off a proliferation of cloned apps, and steer around a thicket of regulations and intense competition from local developers.

What's more, companies that charge for their apps are finding they need to get more creative about business models in China since users there are accustomed to getting most digital content free.

ZeptoLab UK Ltd. found this out firsthand when it launched puzzle game "Pudding Monsters" in China last year. Weeks before the launch, the firm scrambled to integrate with payments systems for multiple app stores, with each offering different ways for users to pay for unlocking new levels and virtual items.

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China recently surpassed the U.S. in smartphone shipments.
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Then, to combat rampant app piracy, ZeptoLab decided to distribute authorized versions of the app to forums and other free download sites where they knew Chinese consumers would be hunting for the game.

"It is the same work you have to do everywhere else—times 10," said Misha Lyalin, chief executive of ZeptoLab, known for its popular "Cut the Rope" game. That app has more daily active users in China than any other country.

ZeptoLab's experience is typical for the growing number of app makers targeting China. These companies know they must tap the world's most populous country before U.S. growth slows, but the path to making money isn't so obvious.

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"There's a U.S.-sized population of high-income, educated users who could become customers in China," said Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote Corp., maker of a digital note-taking app.

But while he projects China will leapfrog Japan this year to become Evernote's second-biggest market behind the U.S., he said, "It could all fall apart tomorrow. There is so much uncertainty everywhere," including regulation and changing tastes.

Evernote, based in Redwood City, Calif., established an office in Beijing in May and expects to double its staff there to 24 people this year. Last year, the company launched a version of its service hosted in China and took an investment from Chinese private-equity firm CBC Capital. Mr. Libin said growth requires building ties with local developers and app stores—and patience. Mr. Libin said users aren't upgrading from free to paid versions at the same rate as the U.S.

The bulk of the apps business has historically been in the U.S., where companies like Apple Inc.AAPL-0.87% and Google Inc.kicked off the craze years ago. North America represented 34% of the $14 billion in app-related revenues in 2012, down from 41% in 2011, according to ABI Research.

Now app makers are increasingly chasing the surge of smartphone users elsewhere, and particularly in China, which has surpassed the U.S. in smartphone shipments.

In China, app makers face competition from local apps built by companies like Tencent Holdings Ltd.TCEHY0.49% and Sina Corp.SINA-0.02%, which add new features quickly. They are also more attuned to Chinese users' tastes, offering more interactive features and expressive, animated icons.

And revenue from apps sold in China still lag many other markets. Apps that include virtual currency tend to work better than paid models, said Christine Lee, who runs partner relations for app-marketing firm Tapjoy Inc.

The San Francisco firm said it has dozens of clients experimenting with new ways to make money from Chinese users, including offering free digital content in exchange for engaging with an ad or downloading an app. Apple has cracked down against the latter—and doesn't allow apps to give users virtual currency in exchanging for downloading an app. But other app stores don't have such rules, Ms. Lee said.

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Roger Zhou in Beijing

App distribution in China isn't the two-horse race it is in the U.S. Apple launched a localized Chinese app store that abides by government rules in 2010; CEO Tim Cook has been bullish on the market for Apple overall, saying on a recent earnings call "it's clear there is a lot of potential there." Google hasn't launched its Play app store in China, though consumers in China can access a version based in Hong Kong.

Rather, most of the activity happens through app stores operated by wireless carriers, Internet companies and startups jockeying to stand out by offering unique promotions. Many target Android apps or iPhones that have been modified to download apps without going through the app store.

Beijing-based AppChina allows users to download some 120,000 apps from its website and points to other sites with about 400,000 others that can be downloaded. The two-year-old service also offers reviews and editorial content. Unlike Google Play and Apple's app store, developers can pay to have their app promoted via an ad within the app store. Developers on average pay one to five renminbi (16 cents to 80 cents) per download depending on the app.

Still, many app makers said the growth opportunities make navigating the unfamiliarities of the Chinese app market worthwhile. At Fotopedia, which makes photo travel magazine apps, the company said China became its largest market last year, representing 20% of visits, compared with 14% from the U.S. At the beginning of 2011, China was Fotopedia's 10th-biggest market.

Christophe Daligault, senior vice president of global business for Fotopedia parent Fotonauts Inc., said Apple helped drive the growth by promoting Fotopedia's ad-supported iPhone and iPad apps in its Chinese app store. Now Fotopedia is planning to integrate with Chinese social networks like Renren Inc.RENN-0.57% and Sina Corp.'s Weibo, and to hire its first employees to focus on the country this year.

Fotopedia's Chinese apps are free with ads like most of its other apps, although Mr. Daligault said the ad prices are lower than in Japan and Europe and the U.S. He expects those prices to improve as the company develops relationships with ad networks that sell globally.

"China is a really big deal for us," Mr. Daligault said, adding he believes that its apps do well in the country because they are visual.

Despite the hassles, entrepreneurs and investors are more optimistic about U.S. companies' chances in the Chinese app business than Web businesses that have tried to enter the market in the past.

Angel investor and Flipboard adviser Robin Chan said mobile app businesses have a good shot at being successful in China because Apple and Google can help bring products to China faster. "When you launch in the [Apple] App Store you are instantly global," he said. Flipboard, the popular media-reading app, has struck partnerships with stores including Wandoujia and App China in the country, which is now its third largest market by downloads.

For Chinese consumers, the more choices, the merrier. Roger Zhou, a 28-year-old product manager for a soon-to-be launched travel startup in Beijing, said he enjoys using the growing number of non-Chinese apps like Path Inc. and Facebook Inc.FB-1.26%'s Instagram.

"These apps are beautiful," Mr. Zhou said. But he noted that Chinese apps, like messaging service Tencent's Weixinand an app from video site Sohu.com Inc.SOHU2.51% are more popular among its friends because people have more friends on them and they are faster to use.

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